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HISTORY 

of the 

cyllan Wood Iron 
and Steel Company 


1792 — 1920 


* • 

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Published for 
Private Circulation 









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ERRATA 


Page 33—last paragraph—2nd line—April “19th” should read “17th”. 

Page 54—Footnotes are reversed. John W. Logan is now Secretary of 
the Company and R. G. Wood, Jr., Manager of the Steel Works 
Department. 

Page 56—2nd line—“Ice” should read “Furnace’:. 

Page 75—Date of John Wood’s birth should read—September 6, 1816 
instead of April 17, 1826. 







Prepared by Frank H. Taylor 













Early Iron Making Problems 
in America 


William Penn, alive to the importance of the abundance of 
iron ore in his American domain, wrote, about the year 1700, 
concerning this subject, in these words: 

“As the inhabitants of the British Colonies have already 
erected 100 furnaces and forges for the making of bar iron, Great 
Britain may, in the course of years, be supplied and restored 
independent of any foreign country for a commodity so essential 
to the support of our navigation.” 

“But it is to be feared if some encouragement be not given 
for the importation of it into Great Britain that they will be 
induced to work up the iron themselves.” 

The disposition of the Colonists to do this resulted in a law 
passed by Parliament in 1750, to wit: 

“An Act to encourage the importation of Pig and bar iron 
from His Majesty’s Colonies in America and to prevent the erec¬ 
tion of any mill or other engine for slitting or rolling iron, or any 
plating forge to work with a tilt hammer or any furnace for 
making steel in any of said Colonies. (Note 1.) 

The penalties for any such productions in America or the 
handling of the products were very severe. 

Thus it was that, until the period of the Revolution, neither 
the working up of iron nor the production of steel was lawful in 
America. 

The life experience of those who embarked early in the 
production of iron and steel in America was ever an industrial 
warfare against adverse conditions, political, economic and me¬ 
chanical—conditions more variable than those realized in the 
upbuilding of any other of the many important forms of manu¬ 
facture which now enrich the nation. 

James Wood, Pioneer Iron Worker 

James Wood was the grandson of a Dublin Quaker immi¬ 
grant of the same name who, coming to America about 1725, set¬ 
tled in Gwynedd where he lived through the balance of his life. 
He was buried in the Friends’ Meeting graveyard there. James 
Wood, the first of his family to engage in iron making in this 
country, was born October 23rd, 1771, upon a farm in Montgom¬ 
ery County, near Narcissa or Five Points, situated on the road 
from Plymouth Meeting to Blue Bell. (Notes 2 and 3.) 

In 1796 he married Tacy Thomas, daughter of John 
and Mary Thomas, of Gwynedd. His wife was an Episcopalian, 

(1) In the three years beginning with April, 1771, iron was sent abroad from the Port 
of Philadelphia to the amount of 6,127 tons.—“Proud’s History of Penna.” 

(2) This property remained in the family to the year 1832. 

(3) John Wood stated that his father, James, often related that he remembered a 
night when Gen. Washington was a guest at the Wood home, being then on the 
way, with his troops to Valley Forge. 




James Wood. 

Born 1771, died 1851, father of Alan Wood. 
James Wood was the first of his family to 
engage in the iron business, starting as a 
“black and white smith” in 1792. In the year 
1826 he established the firm of Jas. Wood & 
Son, with a rolling mill at Wooddale, Dela¬ 
ware. 


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Site of the Forge at Hammer Hollow, Owned by James Wood and James 
Potts. The First Cast Steel Produced in the United States 

Was Made Here 

while he was a member of the Society of Friends. Having wed 
“out of the meeting,” he was dropped from the same, but later 
was reinstated. Tacy Thomas Wood died on July 11th, 1811. 
Alan Wood was born of this union. 

Four years prior to his first marriage, or in 1792, James 
Wood established a “smithy” near Hickorytown (then called 
Pigeontown). This artisan was known as a “black and white” 
smith, because, in addition to the ordinary work of the country 
blacksmith, he also made kitchen, or domestic wares. 

Early in the last century, prior to 1805, James Wood 
worked a tilt-hammer forge at “Hammer Hollow,” a ravine in 
the southern escarpment of the Chester Valley, located one mile 
north from the present station of Strafford, on the Pennsylvania 
Railroad. The place derived its name from the fact that hammers 
were the leading product of the forge. Hammer Hollow is a 
nart of property now owned by Major Stevens IT. Heckscher. 
In 1808 Mr. Wood operated a forge on the Pennypack Creek. 
Two of his large family of children, Charles and Lydia, were born 
at the residence here. (Note 4.) Ten years later, in 1818, he 
ioined John and Jacob Rogers and Isaac Smedley in a forge prop¬ 
erty at Valley Forge, there manufacturing sickles, scythes, shov¬ 
els, and other agricultural implements, as well as files, cross-cut 
and circular saws. This mill is historic. The original forge was 
built according to the best obtainable evidence, in 1742, by Ste¬ 
phen Evans, Daniel Walker and Joseph Williams, and was 
bought, in 1757, by John Potts, whose grandson, Isaac Potts, 

(4) Tb e mill and residence of James Wood on the Pennypack were between Fox 
Chase and Bustloton and within Philadelphia county. The site is now included in the 
new Pennypack Park tract. 


5 













mm 





James Wood’s Forge on the Pennypack. The Site is Within Pennypacic 





lived in the stone residence near the month of the creek, which is 
now venerated as Washington’s Headquarters. (Note 5.) The 
lower forge, built by Col. William Dewees, a son-in-law of Isaac 
Potts, was burned by the British troops in the fall of 1777, and 
they also sacked his residence, which is now a part of the Wash¬ 
ington Inn. (Note 6.) That the Dewees forge was not entirely 
destroyed is evidenced by an order written by General Washing¬ 
ton, dated April 29th, 1778, as follows: 

“Complaints having been made by Mr. Dewees, the proprie¬ 
tor of the \ alley Forge, that the soldiers pull down the houses 
and break up the Fore Bay, of which is called the Valley Forge, 
the Commander-in-Chief strictly forbids all persons from further 
damages to the said buildings and works, which he hopes will be 
particularly attended to, especially when they consider the great 
loss that Mr. Dewees has already suffered by the great waste 
which our army has been under the necessity of committing upon 
the wood and other improvements.” 

Mr. Wood and his partners repaired the old Dewees forge, 
and the former became manager. (Note 8.) The company 
soon afterward began to turn out saws and shovels, etc., erecting 
for the purpose a crucible steel furnace. With regard to this 
enterprise Swank says, in the History of the Iron and Steel In¬ 
dustry, “Mr. Wood’s son, John Wood, of Conshohocken, stated 
(about 1890) that the Valley Forge plant made some excellent 
steel, but the project was soon abandoned. This was the first 
important crucible steel enterprise in our history, brought to our 
notice.” (Note 9.) 

The family relationship which subsequently existed between 
the Wood and the Dewees families* justifies the following as of 
interest in this work: 

According to the history of Valley Forge (Note 10), a large 
amount of flour was stored at Valley Forge in August, 1777. As 
it was in danger of spoiling, the Board of War advised that it 
should be baked into hard biscuits. Colonel William Dewees 
was entrusted with the work, and he built large ovens in the 
cellar of his house, where army bakers were detailed to do the 
baking. 


(5) The original forge in the valley was located a half mile up stream. The iron 
was brought from Warwick furnace. At the time of the revolution it was owned by 
William Dewees, Jr. This was the forge destroyed by the British troops. Some years 
later a new forge was built near the Dewees mansion. This was operated until 1824. 
The site of the old for^e is on the property now owned by Senator Philander C. Knox. 

(6) Many years after the Revolution the family of Col. William Dewees, through his 
son William, a lawyer at Washington, presented a claim for inderpnity. About the year 
1820 the Government allowed them a sum not even equivalent to the interest on the 
amount of the loss. 

(8) Valley Forge. “How early the forge was erected here we cannot say, but it is 
marked on William Scull’s map of Pennsylvania, published in 1770. Some time after 
the Revolution it was torn down and the spot is now occupied by Mr. Roger’s cotton 
factory.” 

(9) Writing in the year 1858, of Valley Forge. William J. Buck, historian of Mont¬ 
gomery County, said: “There is now no forge or furnace in this vicinity, but iron ore 
is still dug in considerable quantities about a quarter mile from the village on the 
road to the King of Prussia.” 

(10) Published by Rev. W. Herbert Burk, D. D. 

*Alan Wood married Ann Hunter Dewees, granddaughter cf Col. Wm. Dewees. 

7 



While it is known that the house was damaged by the Brit¬ 
ish in September, 1777, and the flour destroyed, it does not appear 
that the building was destroyed, as several courts martial were 
conducted there by order of General Washington. This building 
is now known as the Washington Inn. 

The Dewees family in America is descended from William 
Dewees, Sr., who was, in 1742, a paper maker, near German¬ 
town. (Note 11.) He was of Huguenot ancestry. His home 
was in Whitemarsh. His grandson married Rachel, daughter of 
Edward Fermor. These were the parents of Colonel William De¬ 
wees, of Valley Forge. The Fermors, who were among the 
large investors in lands granted by William Penn and who came 
to America in 1685, were descendants of the ancient family of 
Fermors, of Easton Neston, Northampton County, England. The 
city of Easton, Pa., was named in honor of Ford Pomfret, who 
was a Fermor and whose estate bore that name. Fady Juliana 
Fermor married John Penn. 

After the Valley Forge venture James Wood returned to the 
Pennypack. A recently discovered patent of much historic 
value was issued to him on February 10th, 1825, for improve¬ 
ments in making shovels and spades. The improvements are 
described therein, as follows: “The blanks are entirely of iron 
or steel, the blade being attached to the handle by means of steel 
or iron straps fastened to the blade, and also to the handle by 
rivets, on the front and back side of the blade and handle, the 
said blades being each of a single piece of steel rolled to the 
proper dimensions and not hammered.” 

This was a decided advance in the making of these imple¬ 
ments. The patent was signed by James Monroe, President; 
John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, and William Wirt, At¬ 
torney General. 

In 1826 James Wood turned his attention to the State of Del¬ 
aware. The records prove, however, that he retained the Penny- 
pack property to April 1st, 1833, when he sold it to William Sla¬ 
ter for $5,500.00. 

Due to deposits of bog ores iron-making had been con¬ 
ducted in a small way in Delaware for nearly or quite a century. 
These ores were found in deposits of sand and clay of the tertiary 
period. Another source of supply of ore was the famous Iron 
Hill, located in Cecil County, Maryland. This deposit was 
known as early as 1661. It was mentioned by Gabriel Thomas 
in 1695. Fong before the Revolution small “bloomeries” existed 
along Red Clay Creek, an affluent of Christiana Creek. The chief 
essentials of iron production in that period were ore, water and 
charcoal. In 1812, by reason of war with Great Britain, imported 
iron disappeared from the American market, resulting in very high 
prices. 

(11) The Dewees pap p r mill, like the earlier mill established by Rittenhouse, was 
undoubtedly the result of the influence of Benjamin Franklin. Wm. Dewees came from 
Leuwarden, Holland, his ancestors having fled thither from France during the days of 
persecution. 


8 



First Rolling Mill of the Wood Family—1826 

1 here stood upon Red Clay Creek at Wooddale, a point 
about five miles northwest from Wilmington, Del., a small water 
mill, which had probably been used previous to 1826 to turn out 
nail plates. This mill James Wood and his son, Alan, leased in 
1826 for a period of five years. (Note 12.) 

For many years following the close of the second war with 
Great Britain the constant efforts of those engaged in various 
manufactures to secure protective legislation against foreign, 
and especially British, competition were of no avail. In 1817 the 
“Delaware Society for Promoting Manufactures” was organized 
at Wilmington. The balance of power at Washington was held 
by the farmers of the North and the cotton growers of the 
South, which meant a free market, or nearly so, for the iron 
masters of Europe in the ports of our Atlantic seaboard. It was 
only by securing very cheap and therefore unskilled labor and 
by close economy all along the line that a profit could be made 
by the manufacturing interests. The prevailing rates of wages 
paid at the Delaware Iron Works were from fifty cents to one 
dollar per day, upon yearly agreements. (Notes 13, 14 and 15.) 

The iron used at the Delaware Rolling Mill was bought in 
the form of bars, American, English and Swedish being used. 
It was then the practice of James Wood & Son to buy and sell at 
six months’ time, a discount of five per cent, being allowed for cash. 
Correspondence which has been preserved indicates that it was al¬ 
ways a leading idea in the Wood family to raise the quality of their 
product, insisting upon the best raw material and upon careful work¬ 
manship. (Notes 16 and 17.) 


(12) This lease was made on July 27, 1826, by the Bank of Wilmington and Brandy¬ 

wine. It was recorded therein that it was in the tenure of J. & J. Whitaker, who had 
acquired it from Smith & Gilpin. The rental sum was $500.00 per annum. That the 
property later came into the ownership of Dr. Wm. Gibbon is evidenced by the following 
memorandum upon the day book of Jas. Wood & Son, Sept. 18, 1840. John Wood. 

“Dr. Gibbons was here today and says he likes the looks of the mill. Has left a 
note with me prohibiting any person or persons from moving any stone or other material 
from below the same or in its vicinity.” 

(13) 1841. Journal of John Wood .—“Hired George Hollis as spannerman at 50 cents 
per day. 

“James Holland, an Englishman, went to work today at $10.00 per month, for one 

year. 

(14) The vicissitudes of the iron business are many and various. Here are a few 
instances noted by John Wood in 1841 at the Delaware works. 

March 11th: “Water wheel all went to pieces with a tremendous crash.” 

August 1st. “Lots of trouble to get good product.” 

September 13th: “Pierce lazy; did not get the heat in until 2 o’clock this morning.” 

Dec. 23d: “Great flood in creek. Considerable loss.” 

(15) 1836. Letter of Alan Wood: “Best quality of American sheet iron in great 

demand. Making about 1 ton per day. Prices from $150.00 to $160.00.” 

(16) 1836. Letter of Alan Wood .—'“When we had our circular printed we made a 
common article of sheet iron in imitation of the English or Jersey Iron Co.’s puddled iron. 
We have, sometime since, declined making this article. It did not meet the approbation 
of our customers. We, however, would furnish you with the best quality of Juniata 
sheet-iron, etc., delivered on any vessel at our port.” 

(17) 1838. Letter of Alan Wood .—“All sheet iron is rolled from the best quality of 
blooms. Have not, in general, annealed any of the sheet iron, it being soft and 
works well without.” 


9 




Location of the Dftawarf Iron Works 


In these modern days the distance between Philadelphia and 
the State of Delaware may be covered by train or automobile 
within an hour, but it was a considerable undertaking ninety 
years ago. The fuel materials and products were hauled by six- 
horse teams between Wilmington or Newport and the works. 
They were transported upon the Delaware River by sloops ply¬ 
ing from and to Market and Arch Street wharves. After 1838 
when the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad was 
completed shipments were usually made by that route. The 
branch railroad touching Wooddale was not in operation, how¬ 
ever, until after the sale of the water and mill properties by the 
Wood interests. 

The lease, which is still in existence, was made on July 27, 

1826, by the Bank of Wilmington and Brandywine, and Edward 
Gilpin to James Wood for a period of 5 years from March 25, 

1827. However, James and Alan Wood took possession of the 
property at once, as is undoubtedly evidenced by the Delaware 
Iron Works “Day Book,’’ which was opened August 17, 1826, 
with the statement, “James Wood and his son Alan enter into 

10 




















11 
















the rolling and manufacturing business at the Delaware Iron 
Works and are to divide profit and loss equally.” 

Th is little mill is picturesquely set in a hollow surrounded 
by low hills that makes it almost a little world of its own. On a 
knoll overlooking the mill is a stonehou.se where the members 
of the family in charge of the mill, at various times, lived. A 
mill race circles around the knoll, feeding the water to the wheel 
that furnished the power to turn the rolls. 

For six years, from 1826 to 1832, Alan Wood lived in the 
stone house and had charge of the Delaware Iron Works, while 
his father, James, ran the store at 161 North Second Street, in 
Philadelphia. From the Day Book we find that James Wood 
bought and forwarded most of the raw material to the mill, such 
as bars and coal. From the first, anthracite coal from the Le¬ 
high or Schuylkill districts was used, costing from $6.50 to $8.00 
a ton. The iron was bought in the form of bars, either American, 
Swedish, Russian, or occasionally English, and rolled into plates 
or sheets. On September 1, 1826, James Wood was charged with 
99 plates of Spade Iron, which was doubtless the first iron rolled 
by the Wood family. This charge was made as a matter of book¬ 
keeping between the works and the store in Philadelphia. In 
November of the same year some bundles of sheet iron were 
shipped to him, showing that the mill had gotten into working 
order. 

To our surprise we find that they also, even at this early 
date, rolled considerable steel, this being bought in the form of 
slabs or bars and rolled into shovel or saw steel. At that time 
soft steel bars cost $125 a ton, while American iron bars were 
$100 and Swedish $102.50 a ton. The Swedish iron plates 
were charged to James Wood, by the mill, at $140 a ton 
and steel shovel plates at $160. The Delaware Iron Works also 
manufactured some of its product into finished shovels, hoes, etc., 
and shipped them to James Wood in Philadelphia. 

The eight or ten men necessary to do the work were boarded 
at a cost of $2.00 a week to the mill, and were paid, in addition, 
usually at the rate of $5.00 a week. The shearing and forming 
into shovels, however, was done by piece work at so much per 
dozen. 

It is interesting to note that by 1828 and 1829 the Dela¬ 
ware Iron Works was making sheets ranging in gauge from No. 
27 (about three-fourths of a pound to the square foot) to No. 10 
(over 5 pounds to the square foot), and, on occasion, rolled 
small cast steel ingots into circular saw plates. 

That they had their troubles then, even as we do today, is 
shown by this entry in 1831—“Profit and loss charged $733.99 for 
rolls broken this year.” The rolls weighed about a ton apiece 
and were three feet long, varying in diameter probably from 
15" to 18". 


12 


As related by the Day Book, an important change was made 
in May, 1832, when the business was moved to Conshohocken. 
Not only was the equipment of anvils, shears and other tools 
transferred, but the men themselves and the Day Book began 
anew at the water mill on the banks of the Schuylkill Canal. We 
can find no records or mention of manufacturing again at the 
Delaware iron Works until 1840, when John Wood, a younger 
brother of Alan Wood, took charge there, as related in his time- 
book still in existence. From 1840 the Delaware Iron Works 
was operated under the control of the Wood family to 1889, when 
it was abandoned, and a few years later the property was sold. 

The Conshohocken Iron Works 

An agreement between James Wood and his son, Alan, ef¬ 
fective on January 1st, 1832, resulted in the erection in that year 
of a water mill for rolling iron at Conshohocken, “on the Ply¬ 
mouth Canal.” (Note 19.) Soon afterward the plant at Wooddale, 
Delaware, was abandoned. (Note 20.) At this time James 
Wood removed to Conshohocken and bought a farm from David 
Lukens in the vicinity. (Note 21.) 

The Conshohocken mill started on May 5th, 1832, to roll 
sheets, the rolls being 18 inches in diameter and 36 inches in 
length, for making shovel plates only. The water wheel had a 
length of 20 feet and a diameter of 16 feet. The balance of the 
equipment included one grate furnace. The sheet mill was 
coupled directly to the end of the water-wheel shaft. The capa¬ 
city of the rolls was 54 sheets in 12 hours. 

The iron was rolled partly of bars purchased from various 
sources, partly from blooms delivered by boat from the forge of 
James Seyfert in Reading. Blooms were also supplied by Lewis 
A. Lukens, who had married Mary Wood, a sister of Alan Wood, 
and was located at New Market Forge, Lebanon County, Pa. 
To roll the blooms into bars it was necessary to take out the 
sheet rolls and put in the bar rolls, thus stopping temporarily 
the making of sheet iron till a supply of bars was acquired. 

In 1835 the firm built a three-story shovel factory in west 
end of water mill; this was torn down in 1880. The trimming 
shear was in the second story of this building, and sheets were 
carried up to be trimmed. The shear was of alligator type and 
had a stroke of 12 inches. 


(19) The Conshohocken land was purchased from the Schuylkill Navigation Com¬ 
pany on September 3rd, 1831. It is described as bdng on the Matson’s Ford road 
between the Canal and Schuylkill river, fronting on Mill Street. The consideration in¬ 
cluded a ground rent of 25 cents per running foot, yearly. The Navigation Company 
also contracted to supply “900 square inches of water at an annual rent of $1,000.” 

(20) Day book of James Wood & Son, October 14th, 1832: “Balances due the 
Delaware Rolling Mill are transferred to the accounts of the Conshohocken Rolling Mill, 
the Delaware mill being closed by removal to Conshohocken. The latter mill is now 
in operation in the same manner and on same conditions as (formerly existed) at the 
Delaware Mill.” 

(21) James Wood was at this time 61 years old. 

13 






Exhibited at Crystal Palace Exposition at New York in 1852. 
This Piece of Iron is Still in Good Condition. 

c 


14 





Original Mill at Conshohocken, Showing Location oe Water Wheel 

On January 1st, 1840, James Wood sold his interest in the firm 
of J. Wood & Son to William W. Wood, who continued the busi¬ 
ness in association with Alan Wood, under the title of A. Wood & 
Brother, for one year. (Note 22.) 

An entry in the books of the concern, under date of Decem¬ 
ber 15th, 1841, announces that the firm of A. Wood & Brother was 
“in liquidation.” A further memorandum, dated the following 
day, was signed by J. Wood & Son, Alan Wood being rejoined 
by his father. 

Following the conclusion of the partnership of Alan and 
William Wood in 1841 the business was conducted by James 
Wood and his son, Alan, under the original title of James Wood 
& Son, and now included once more the Wooddale mill which 
had been again rented in 1840, being operated by John Wood, 
another brother of Alan Wood. Here they continued a series of 
experiments in an effort to produce an imitation of Russia sheet 
iron. Business at this period was much prostrated. In the fol¬ 
lowing year John Wood wrote, “We have had some experience 
in business, but never knew such times as these.” Nevertheless 
the experiments were continued, and they were rewarded in 1842 
with a silver medal from the Franklin Institute. The improve¬ 
ment in the product thus evidenced at the Wooddale plant doubt¬ 
less led to the series of readjustments of interests in the Wood 
family, which occurred in the following years. In April, 1843, 
Wood & Brothers, composed of Alan, John and William Wood, 

(22) James Wood received for his half interest in the business $22,098.98. 

(23) The Schuylkill Navigation Company was incorporated in 1815. The route, 
comprising 63 miles of canals and 47 miles of slack water, was opened for navigation 
in 1826. ' The channel was enlarged in 1846. 

15 





















Mill of J. Wood & Brothers, Conshohocken—Early View 

rented a store at No. 3 North Fifth Street, removing- there from 
the old Second Street store. 

At this time Alan Wood was negotiating with Dr. William 
Gibbons, the owner of the Delaware Iron Works, for its pur¬ 
chase. This was accomplished in November, 1843, the price 
paid being $8,000.00. This deal was followed by the conclusion 
of the partnership between Alan Wood and his brothers. The 
business relation existing with his father from 1826 was also 
ended. (Note 25.) 

Several years afterward, referring to the changes in interest, 
Alan Wood wrote: “James Wood has retired from business and 
resides in the country. I succeeded him and continue at the Del¬ 
aware Iron Works. Four of my younger brothers are also en¬ 
gaged in making iron and use the title ‘James Wood & Sons/ ” 

These brothers continued to do business at the Second 
Street store, selling the products of the Conshohocken mills. 

John Wood, who had removed from Wooddale to Wilming¬ 
ton on January 1st, 1844, and thence to Philadelphia, also re¬ 
located at 161 North Second Street. 

J. Wood & Bros. 

Mr. James Wood retired from business on February 23rd, 
1848, after which the mills were conducted by his sons, John, 
William W., Thomas C. and David L. Wood. The title of the 

(25) When Alan Wood bought the property in Delaware he paid to his father and 
brothers in interest the sum of $1,050.00 for the tools and machinery in the mill. 

16 














































“Squire” John Wood 

Born in Philadelphia, September 6, 1816. In 
charge of mill at Wooddale, Delaware, from 
1840 to 1844. Head of the firm of J. Wood & 
Bros, at Conshohocken from 1848 till his death 
in May, 1898. Member of Congress prior to 
end of Civil War. 


17 



firm then became J. Wood & Bros. James Wood died on June 
29th, 1851. 

The subsequent history of the Conshohocken establishment 
is a record of frequent enlargement due to an ever-increasing 
business. The capacity of the mill was aided in 1846 by the addi¬ 
tion of a fly-wheel in the pit of the water mill. 

Puddling was introduced at the plant beginning on Septem¬ 
ber 17th, 1847. 

In the year 1851, the firm built the first steam mill in Con¬ 
shohocken, and in 1862 added the lower mill with the follow¬ 
ing equipment: 1 double puddling furnace, 1 heating furnace for 
bar mill, 1 grate furnace for sheet mill, 1 sheet mill with 20 x 42 
inch rolls, one 5-inch bar mill. 

Many years later this equipment was replaced by the pres¬ 
ent two 3-high mills, one of which, the 26 x 72 inch mill, pur¬ 
chased from the Marshall Brothers, went into operation on 
March 29th, 1898, and the other, a 3-high 26x60 inch mill, was 
installed on March 17th, 1903. 

The firm was incorporated in 1886 under the style of 
J. WOOD & BROS. CO. Hon. John Wood, familiarly known 
as the Squire, was made president of the newly incorporated com¬ 
pany. 

Hon. John Wood 

The Hon. John Wood was distinguished prior to his death in 
May, 1898, as the oldest active business man and one of the fore¬ 
most in Montgomery County. He was also a leader in public 
afifairs. An exception to the general disinclination of members 
of the Wood family to accept the cares and honors of political 
office, he served, prior to the period of the Civil War, a term in 
Congress. He was one of the sons of James Wood, founder 
of the several iron and steel industries with which the family 
name is identified. He was born in Philadelphia September 
6th, 1816. Alan Wood was an elder brother. When sixteen 
years of age Mr. Wood became a clerk in his father’s store in 
Philadelphia. As elsewhere noted, he was, in the course of 
his career, interested in the plant of Red Clay Creek, Dela¬ 
ware, and, with his brothers, in the Conshohocken establish¬ 
ment. Prior to 1840 he was in partnership with Lewis A. Lukens 
at New Market Forge, Lebanon County, Pa., in the manufacture of 
blooms. In 1851, when his father died, he became head of the firm 
and took the lead in adding steam mills to the old Conshohocken 
plant. (Note 29.) 

His son, James W. Wood, has been an iron man for some 
sixty years. He began his life-work in the mill of J. Wood & 
Brothers Company, of which his father was the head. He has 

(29) Mr. Wood was married twice. He wed, in 1840, Elizabeth K. Wells, who 
died in 1864. Two years later he married Ninette Peterman, of Elkton, Md. The children 
of John Wood and Elizabeth K. Wells Wood were Helen, James W., Clara, William W., 
John, Jr., George W., Lizzie W., Rachel and E. J. Morris; those of the second marriage 
of Mr. Wood were Mary P., Walter D. and Edith M. 

18 




19 


The J. Wood & Bros. Mills, Built 1851 and 1862 (Purchased by Alan Wood Iron & Steel Co., March 14, 1917) 















always been active in the industry, and through his technical 
skill has been an important factor in the development of the 
immense iron and steel producing plants grouped at this point. 
His recollections of the details of the growth of the business of 
iron and steel manufacture at Conshohocken have been of great 
assistance in the compilation of this book. 

The J. Wood & Bros. Co. operated as an independent com¬ 
pany till March 14th, 1917, when its stock was purchased by the 
Alan Wood Iron & Steel Co. On June 30th of the same year, 
it gave up its charter to become a part of the Alan Wood Iron 
& Steel Co., and is now known as the “J. Wood Department” 
of that company. The machinery in the original old water mill 
was dismantled* in 1908, likewise in 1918 the equipment of the 
steam mill built in 1851, having become outworn, was consigned 
to the scrap heap. There remain in operation, the two 3-high 
mills constructed during 1898 and 1903 in the building erected 
1862. These have been considerably improved by the installa¬ 
tion of electric motors on shears, fans and other auxiliary ma¬ 
chinery, the electric current for which is supplied from company’s 
blast furnaces at Swedeland. 

Alan Wood 

Having followed the history of John Wood and his brothers 
in the iron business, let us turn our attention to their brother, 
Alan Wood, who had severed business relations with them Jan¬ 
uary 1st, 1844, and purchased the Delaware Iron Works. His 
oldest son, W. Dewees, was now a boy of 18 years, who had 
learned the rudiments of the business under the tutelage of John 
Wood, while the latter was in charge of the Delaware Iron 
Works. Dewees was now put in charge of the mill under the 
direction of his father who, however, continued to live in Phila¬ 
delphia, where he managed the business at the store, 3 North 
Fifth Street, and sold the iron rolled in Delaware. In 1848, W. 
Dewees Wood married Rosalind Gilpin, and of this union two of 
their children, Richard G., now Chairman of this company, and 
Alan W. were born in the old Delaware home. 

In 1851 Dewees left his father’s business to go to McKees¬ 
port, where in partnership with his father-in-law, Richard B. 
Gilpin, he built the McKeesport Iron Works. This move left 
the Delaware Iron Works in charge of Alan Wood, Jr., a younger 
son of Alan Wood, and only 17 years old at this time. He was, 
however, a natural “mill man,” and under his father’s guidance 
proved equal to the task. 

For six years the Delaware Iron Works remained under 
the charge of Alan, Jr., when, in 1857, the hard times or “panic 
of ’57” caused his brother, Dewees, temporarily to give up his 
venture in McKeesport and return to Delaware, where for four 
years he was again manager of the little water mill. It was an 
ideal spot for his family of boys, as well as for his youngest 

20 



Alan Wood 

Born at Hickorytown, near Plymouth Meeting, 
Pa., on Christmas Day, year 1800. Started in 
business with his father and formed partner¬ 
ship with him as James Wood & Son in 1826. 
Founded firm of Alan Wood & Co. in 1857. 

Died November 24, 1881. 


21 







Alan Wood, Jr. 

The Hon. Alan Wood, Jr., son of Alan 
Wood, was born July 6, 1834, in Philadelphia. 

At the age of seventeen he took charge of 
his father’s mill, “Delaware Iron Works,” near 
Wilmington, and in 1857 moved to Consho- 
hocken to assist his father in building the new 
Schuylkill Iron Works. To him great credit 
is due for the solid construction of the mills, 
also for persevering in making successful the 
then new three high type of mill. He was a 
builder and under his guidance took place the 
early rapid growth of the works. 

In 1876 he was elected to Congress and 
served one term, after which he returned to 
the iron business, and upon the incorporation 
of the Alan Wood Co. in 1885 became its first 
Treasurer. Soon afterward he retired from 
active business, but remained a Director of 
the Company till his death, and took a leading 
part in promoting the building of the Steel 
Works. 

He married Mary H. Yerkes in 1861. At 
her death in 1918, she left her residence and 
grounds with an endowment fund of $100,000 
to the Borough of Conshohocken for use as a 
park. 


22 







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23 



24 


Early View of Schuylkill Iron Works 













brother, Howard, who frequently came from Philadelphia to 
visit. They all thoroughly enjoyed the country life, spending 
much time fishing and swimming in the mill race. 

This period of their lives came to an end in 1861, when 
Dewees Wood decided it was an opportune time to return to 
McKeesport and resume his former business, which he did with 
great success. The Delaware Iron Works continued in operation 
under the general management of Alan Wood and his sons, but 
from now on was not in the immediate charge of any member 
of the family. 

Bars for rolling were secured from the new works at Con- 
shohocken, which arrangement continued till 1889, when the mill 
was finally abandoned and a few years later was sold for $8,500, 
just $500 more than the price paid by Alan Wood in 1843. It 
afterwards became a pulp mill, which burned down. Property 
now belongs to Mr. Ruppert, president of the Delaware Fibre 
Co., and the water power is used to make electricity for his ad¬ 
joining beautiful home and farm. 

Alan Wood & Co. 

The year 1857 was a notable one for the Wood family. In 
that year Alan Wood, in partnership with his brother-in-law, 
" Lewis A. Lukens, founded the firm of the Alan Wood & Co., and 
started the present Schuylkill Iron Works in Conshohocken. 
Alan, Jr., who had had six years’ experience at the Delaware 
mill, assisted his father in building the new mill and was put in 
active charge of it. The development of this mill under his able 
management, followed by his younger brother, Howard, is best 
described by the ensuing account of Mr. Wm. A. Cooper, who 
came to this mill in 1884 and became manager in 1911 upon the 
death of Mr. Howard Wood. 

Schuylkill Iron Works 

By WILLIAM A. COOPER 


When the Schuylkill Iron Works was built in 1857, the 
equipment consisted of one sheet mill with a grate furnace, and 
what afterwards became No. 2 Sheet Mill, but was then a two- 
high flue mill, and a 5-inch bar mill with one heating furnace 
between them, which was used on the day turn to heat piles for 
the flue mill and on the night turn to heat piles for the 5-inch 
bar mill, and two single puddling furnaces. The flue mill had 
a double turn, one turn rolling flue iron on the day turn and the 
next week bar iron on the night turn. The sheet mill turn on the 
day and the bar mill turn at night rolled the product of the two 
single puddling furnaces. 

*William W. Lukens, now president of the company, is a grandson of Lewis A. 
Lukens. 


25 




Howard Wood, Sr. 

Son of Alan Wood, born in Philadelphia, 
February 8, 1846. Graduating at the age of 
18 from the University of Pennsylvania, he 
started in business at the Schuylkill Iron 
Works and upon the election of his older 
brother, Alan, Jr., to Congress in 1876, took 
entire charge of the mill. When the firm was 
incorporated in 1885 (December 27) he be¬ 
came President and held this office till his 
death, July 1, 1911. 

Under his leadership, the Company built the 
Steel Works and acquired blast furnaces by 
merging with the Heckscher interests. 

He married Mary Biddle in 1869, from 
which union there were five sons and four 
daughters. Three of his sons are at present 
associated with the Company. 


26 





1 he steam engine which ran the mills had no governor and 
the engineer sat on a high stool with a lever about three feet 
long which controlled the throttle valve, and endeavored to make 
the mill run as regularly as possible, but there were many breaks 
in the speed. Edward Lancaster, one of these engineers, en¬ 
tered the army and was killed during the Civil War. His 
body was the first one sent back to Conshohocken. The only 
lights in the mill at night were oil torches hanging over the 
roller and one over the catcher. 

The sheet mill force finished everything either two or three-high, 
finishing nothing four-high. The turn annealed all their product in 
the open-grate furnace as they made it, and the product would hardly 
pass muster now. 

In 1862 the No. 3 sheet mill was built, with a Corliss engine. 
On this train were a pair of puddle-rolls and a “coffee-mill” 
squeezer. Two more double puddling furnaces were also built. 

At this time hard coal was used exclusively and much of it 
was brought down in canal boats and unloaded by a bucket on a 
swinging crane arm. About this time there was built, in the 
upper part of the building, what was called the “old English 
annealing furnace,” where the sheet iron was annealed standing 
on its edge. 

In 1866 the west mill was built. This was the first three- 
high mill for rolling light sheets and plates. The rolls were 
22 inches in diameter by 54 inches long, and the little roll was 11 
inches in diameter, but was soon changed to one 12 inches in 
diameter. Great trouble existed to get this mill to work satis¬ 
factorily and discouragements were many, but Mr. Alan Wood 
persevered and finally made a great success of it. In the Pitts¬ 
burgh district this type of mill is still called a “Conshohocken 
mill.” 

The mill was driven by a vertical 36 x 42 engine built by 
the Pusey & Jones Company, with a double crank. On one side 
was the west flue mill, with a set of three-high finishing and a 
two-high break-down mill, and beyond this a 7-inch bar mill, 
and on the other side of the engine No. 4 sheet mill and later, the 
little three-high mill beyond the No. 4 sheet mill. 

The west flue mill had two heating furnaces and an open 
annealing furnace, and the 7-inch bar mill had one heating fur¬ 
nace. The puddle mill was rebuilt. In all there were 8 double¬ 
puddling furnaces, but No. 2 puddling mill furnace was soon 
taken down, as from its location the puddlers got the flashes 
from the 7-inch bar mill and it was impossible to get men to 
work at the furnace. The equipment stood at 7 double-puddling 
furnaces until puddling was discontinued in the west mill some 
time after 1890. 

In 1866 the Corliss engine on No. 3 sheet mill was replaced 
by the vertical 26x42 “straddle bug” engine built by the Pusey 
& Jones Company, which is still in use. 

27 



28 


Schuylkill Iron Works, Conshohocken in 1917 

Front View 














The 36 x 42 engine on the west mill with the double crank, 
and a fly wheel on each side, was a source of constant trouble 
and expense, it being almost impossible to keep the four bearings 
in line, and when one side was checked up by a plate going 
through the rolls the fly-wheel on the other side kept at speed 
and put severe strains on the crank pin, which frequently broke, 
and it is a compliment to the care and attention of the machine 
department that the old engine lasted and ran continuously 
from 1866 until October, 1913, when it all went to pieces and 
was replaced by a 34 x 60 Mesta engine, with a rope drive, con¬ 
necting with the roll train. 

In 1870 the little three-high mill was built at the end of 
No. 4 sheet mill train. This was a set of three-high rolls 18x36, 
with a 12 x 36 little roll. The plan was to break down on the 
two-high No. 4 sheet rolls and finish on the three-high, and make 
sheet iron by this method. The mill gave infinite trouble and the 
attempt to make sheet iron on it was never entirely successful, also 
it failed to roll light flue iron satisfactorily as the top and middle 
rolls were not heavy enough to make the friction necessary to drive 
them and the mill was finally scrapped. 

In 1872-1873 the east mill was built. The equipment was 
a three-hi gh 22 x 54 mill, which was afterwards, in 1880, changed 
to 24 x 72, and in 1896 to a 26 x 72 mill. This mill had two heating 
furnaces and an open annealing furnace. A 20-inch bar mill was 
built. This was a three-high mill, patented by Alan Wood, Jr., 
and the only one of its type ever built. The mill had three stands 
of rolls, one 7j^-inch wide, one 10-inch wide and one which had 
rolls 5 inches wide and an extra set of 4-inch rolls. 

Three heating furnaces were built for this mill. There was 
a rotary squeezer and a steam hammer and eight double-puddling 
furnaces. When this mill was erected it was considered a model 
mill, well laid out, and it was frequently visited by people 
interested in mill building. 

In 1891 the north mill was built. This was a 22x54 three- 
high mill with two heating furnaces and one annealing furnace. 

In 1899 the old west mill puddling furnaces and 7-inch bar 
mill were torn down, and in their place was built the No. 4 flue 
mill, which was a three-high 26 x 72-inch mill, with two heating 
furnaces and one open annealing furnace. 

In 1913-1914 the west flue mill was rebuilt and No. 4 sheet 
mill changed into No. 5 flue mill, with 24x48 rolls, and this 
mill has been very successful in rolling light gauge sheets. 

In 1914-1915 the east flue mill was rebuilt and equipped 
with a 36 x 54 Newbold engine and a 26 x 72 United Engineering 
and Foundry Company train. 

In 1917 a new steel shipping building was erected on the 
east side of the north and east flue mills for trimming and ship¬ 
ping the product of these mills. This building has a crane for 
handling plates with a magnet. 


29 




30 


Second Street Store of James Wood & Son 

Birthplace of W. Dewees Wood Later Residence of Alan Wood 

1525 Arch Street, Philadelphia 























































Up to 1913 there was not an electric motor in use at the mill, 
but since then old small steam engines and steam pumps have been 
replaced with motors and this policy has been continued very ex¬ 
tensively since the high-tension power line was built along the canal 
from Ivy Rock to the mill, which line went into service July 1, 1918. 

A pulverized coal plant has also been built and all the furnaces 
in the mill have been changed from hand and stoker-fired into pul¬ 
verized coal burning furnaces. 

Mr. Alan Wood, Jr., built the mill in 1857 and managed it 
until 1876, when he was elected to Congress. 

Mr. Howard Wood came to the mill in 1866, and took 
charge of the mill and managed it from 1876 until his death, 
July 1st, 1911. He was a member of the old firm, and when it 
reorganized (December 28th, 1885) as a corporation, was elected 
president and served in that capacity until his death. 

No history of the Schuylkill Iron Works would be complete 
without paying tribute to the untiring efiforts of Mr. Alan Wood, Jr., 
and Mr. Howard Wood, both of whom worked early and late in 
their efiforts to improve the mill and keep its products up to a high 
standard and quality. 

Stores and Offices in Philadelphia 

In 1826, the store and home of James Wood & Son in Phila¬ 
delphia was located at 161 North Second Street. It is first in¬ 
cluded in the City Directory in 1830, the number being changed 
in 1858 to “223/’ Here James Wood & Son sold not only saws, 
shovels, spades and sheet iron made by them, but a general line 
of hardware. 

Gradually as the production of their mill increased, they 
confined themselves more and more to their own manufactures 
and gave up the hardware business. 

James and Alan Wood used this store in conjunction till 
1843, when Alan joined with his brothers, John and Wm. W. 
Wood, for a short time under the title of Wood & Bros., and 
rented a store at No. 3 North Fifth Street. In 1844, however, 
when Alan Wood bought the Delaware Iron Works and ended 
partnership relations with his father and brothers, he took the 
new store on Fifth Street, while James Wood & Sons retained 
the old Second Street store. The store was used practically con¬ 
tinuously (Note x) by them later under the title of J. Wood & 
Bros. (Note y) until *1905 or 1906, and was sold in 1912. 

The Fifth Street store was kept by Alan Wood until 1858, 
when he located at No. 38 North Front Street. This was the 
year following the building of Schuylkill Iron Works and the 
formation of the Alan Wood & Co., the original partners being 
Alan Wood, Lewis A. Lukens and two of Alan Wood’s sons, 
Alan, Jr., and Thomas Wood. 

(x) For a brief time in 184& and following, the store was rented to Edward 
Williams. 

(y) In 1860 the partners of J. Wood & Bros., were John, William W., David I,, 
and T. Chalkley Wood. 


31 




Thomas Wood 

Son of Alan Wood, born December 12, 1827, 
at Wooddale, Delaware. 

A partner in the Alan Wood & Co., he con¬ 
ducted the commercial end of the business in 
Philadelphia with great ability, till his death, 
May 24, 1880. 


32 



While Alan, Jr., devoted himself to the new mill at Consho- 
hocken, Thomas Wood, who had been educated as a lawyer, ably 
assisted his father and, until his death at the age of 53, in 1880, 
directed the commercial end of the business. To his foresight 
and ability the company owed much of its success. 

In 1864, Alan Wood & Co. removed to 519 Arch Street, 
where they maintained a warehouse with a large stock of plates 
and sheets. In 1870, Mr. Wood’s partners were his sons, Alan, 
Jr., Thomas and Howard, and Lewis A. Lukens. Five years 
later, Charles and Jawood Lukens (Note z), sons of Lewis A. 
Lukens, were also members of the firm. 

The business was incorporated December 28th, 1885, as the 
Alan Wood Co., the first officers being, Howard Wood, presi¬ 
dent; Alan Wood, Jr., treasurer, and Jonathan R. Jones, secretary 
and assistant treasurer. 

In 1910, the Alan Wood Iron & Steel Co., which, as else¬ 
where related, had incorporated in 1901 and taken over the Alan 
Wood Co., on July 1st, 1903, gave up the warehouse and removed 
its offices to the Morris Building, thence to the present offices in the 
Widener Building in 1915. 

The W. Dewees Wood Company, McKeesport, Pa. 

Mr. W. Dewees Wood, son of Alan Wood, was born in 
Philadelphia, April 19th, 1826. At the age of twenty-five years, 
having acquired a practical knowledge of the sheet iron industry 
in the employ of his father at Wooddale, he went to McKeesport, 
Pa., and, in company with Richard B. Gilpin, his father-in-law, 
built the sheet iron mill known as the McKeesport Iron Works. 
Mr. Gilpin sold his interest in the plant in 1855 to Max Moor¬ 
head and George F. McClain. The firm was now known as 
Wood, Moorhead & Company. In 1857 Mr. Wood, retaining his 
interest in the McKeesport plant, removed to Wooddale, to as¬ 
sume control of his father’s “Delaware Iron Works.” There he 
remained until 1861, when he returned to McKeesport. In the 
succeeding year his partners withdrew, and Alan Wood Lukens, 
his cousin, joined him in the firm as Wood & Lukens. Mr. Lu¬ 
kens withdrew later, and Mr. Wood took into partnership three 
sons, Richard G., Alan W., and Thomas D. Wood. The firm 
existed until 1888, when it was incorporated under the name of 
the W. Dewees Wood Company. The Russian sheet iron made 
at this plant, called by Mr. Wood “planished iron,” has almost 
superseded the imported article in this market. Other enter¬ 
prises of Mr. W. Dewees Wood were the Wellsville Plate and 
Sheet Iron Company, at Wellsville, Ohio, which he founded in 
1880, and the Woodson Company, on the Monongahela River, a 
few miles above Elizabeth. This was under construction when 
the firm sold out in 1900. 

(z) Mr. Charles Lukens was the father of Wm. W. Lukens, now President of the 

Mr. Jawood Lukens soon afterward left the firm and started a pipe mill which 
later became the Longmead Iron Works and operated in Conshohocken until about 1907. 

33 




W. Dewees Wood 

Oldest son of Alan Wood, was born in 
Philadelphia April 17, 1826. At the age of 18 
he took charge of Delaware Iron Works under 
his father, where he remained till 1851, when 
he removed to McKeesport to start the Mc¬ 
Keesport Iron Works. In 1857, owing to the 
business depression, he was unable to operate 
the McKeesport mill and returned to Dela¬ 
ware, where he resumed charge of the Dela¬ 
ware Iron Works. In 1861 conditions having 
changed for the better, he went back to Mc¬ 
Keesport and founded the business out of 
which grew the W. Dewees Wood Co. 

To him chiefly belongs the credit of per¬ 
fecting the process of manufacturing planished 
iron, till eventually the W. Dewees Wood 
product excelled the famous Russian iron. 

He married Rosalind Gilpin in 1848, from 
which union there were four sons and three 
daughters. 

He remained president of the W. Dewees 
Wood Co. till his death, January 2, 1899. 


34 




Trade Mark—W. Dewees Wood Co. 


35 


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36 


W. Dewees Wood Co. Works at McKeesport, Pa. 


mk 



37 


Wellsville Plant of the W. Dewees Wood Co. 






At McKeesport he carried on experiments on an extensive 
scale in annealing, cleaning, oxidizing and polishing processes. 
About the year 1872 he started to give the material a highly fin¬ 
ished mottled surface by polishing the sheet under planishing 
hammers with large chilled face dies; and thereby gave it the 
appearance which was one of the chief peculiarities of the Rus¬ 
sian iron. From year to year the product has been further im¬ 
proved, so that the sheets which are now being turned out at 
the works (which, in 1900, came into possession of the American 
Sheet Steel Company) surpass the original Russian product in 
finish and uniformity of gauge, and have driven the latter out of 
the American market almost entirely. 

The crest of the W. Dewees Wood Company was an eagle 
rampant over a prostrate bear, this signifying the triumph of 
American ingenuity over Russia in the production of polished or 
“planished” sheet plate. Successive patents and tireless experi¬ 
mentation at the McKeesport plant resulted in the perfection 
there attained, and the product has found countless uses. 

Under control of Mr. Wood, this extensive concern, founded 
in 1851, eventually employed 1500 workmen. The process of 
manufacture has been thus outlined: 

The black sheets, known to the trade as “WOOD’S RE¬ 
FINED SHEET IRON,” were originally manufactured from 
100% mixture of Bessemer pig iron in the puddling furnaces. 
Afterwards, when steel replaced iron, the black sheets were made 
from acid open hearth steel, using entirelv refined pig iron, 
known as “WASH METAL.” 

The process of manufacturing “PLANISHED SHEET 
IRON” started with a four-fifths mixture of charcoal pig and 
one-fifth mixture of Bessemer pig iron. This was put through 
a refining fire—the result of which was known as “FORGE 
PLATE.” This was put through a “knobling furnace,” in which 
charcoal was used as fuel under a blast. On leaving the knob- 
ling furnace, it came out in a shape which was technically known 
as a “loop.” This was put under the hammer and converted 
into blooms which were, in turn, rolled into bars; after which 
they were repiled and rerolled. These bars were rolled into 
sheets and were then taken to the finishing department—the final 
process of manufacture being the heating, hammering, trimming, 
rehammering, sorting, packing and stenciling. 

Alan Wood Iron & Steel Company 

By 1901 the Alan Wood Company had attained an annual 
production of 25,000 tons of sheets and light plates, consisting 
of both iron and steel. The firm had its own puddle mill for 
producing iron, but had to buy steel billets to meet the ever- 
increasing demand for steel sheets. 

Billets were hard to procure when business was brisk, and 
in 1900 the company was obliged to import a considerable 
amount. The need of a steel mill was sorely felt, and to meet 

38 



39 


Mixer and Open Hearth Building at Ivy Rock 









































this contingency, largely at the instance of the Hon. Alan Wood, 
Jr., the Alan Wood Iron & Steel Company was incorporated 
November 21st, 1901. 

Mr. Richard G. Wood, his son, Alan D. Wood, and brothers, 
Alan W. and Thomas D. Wood, having in the previous year after 
the death of their father, disposed of the W. Dewees Wood Com¬ 
pany, the Wellsville mill and the Woodson property, with ma¬ 
chinery purchased to build a steel plant thereon, to the American 
Sheet Steel Company, afterward part of the United States Steel 
Corporation, now associated themselves with the Alan Wood- 
Iron & Steel Company. The company purchased a tract of land 
(Note a) at Ivy Rock, about a mile north of Conshohocken, and 
proceeded to build a plant of five 55-ton open hearth furnaces and 
a 35" blooming mill, which produced its first steel on June 1st, 
1903. 

On July 1, 1903, the new company took over the Alan Wood 
Company, thus combining the Schuylkill Iron Works and the 
steel plant in one company. Three new O. H. furnaces were 
added to the steel works in 1905, and a fourth one completed 
February, 1907, making a total of nine furnaces, with a capacity 
of 250,000 tons of steel a year. 

The need of hot metal supply now began to be sorely felt, 
and in 1909 negotiations were entered into with Richard Heck- 
scher & Sons Company, whose blast furnaces were situated on 
the other bank of the Schuylkill River directly opposite the steel 
works. 

Agreement was made for the consolidation of the two com¬ 
panies, which was legally consummated December 1st, 1911. In 
the meantime, through the Upper Merion & Plymouth Railroad 
Company, a terminal railroad, which had been formed in 1907 
(July 8th) by the Alan Wood Iron & Steel Company, a railroad 
bridge was constructed across the Schuylkill River, thus con¬ 
necting the two plants. Also a hot metal mixer was built on the 
north end of the open hearth building, and by 1910 the firm had 
the advantage of hot metal which increased its steel making 
capacity about 30%. 

Richard Heckscher and Richard Heckscher & Sons Company 

Mr. Richard Heckscher came to America in the year 1842 
at the age of twenty years, and, while yet a young man, became 
an important factor in the development of transportation, coal¬ 
mining and other enterprises in Pennsylvania in association with 
Charles A. Heckscher, of New York City. 

He became president of the New York & Schuylkill Coal 
Company and manager of the Forest Improvement Company. 
He operated a number of mines in Schuylkill County. In 1867-8, 


(a) The old Carey Farm. 


40 




Founder and President of Richard 

& Sons Co. 

Born 1822, died 1901. 


Heckscher 


Richard Heckscher 


41 






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43 





in company with August Heckscher and Jacob Glover, he was 
active in opening the important Kohineer Collieries at Shenan¬ 
doah, Pa. His energy and great technical skill enabled him to 
introduce many improvements in anthracite coal mining methods. 
He became president of the Lehigh Lime and Iron Company, at 
Bethlehem, Pa., and of Richard Heckscher & Sons Company, 
operating blast furnaces at Swedeland, on the Schuylkill River, 
two miles below Norristown. This industry was founded in 
1849 by the firm of Potts & Jones, but was bought by Repplier 
& Lanigan about the end of the Civil War period, the capacity 
at that time being about 600 tons of iron monthly. 

The plant was purchased in 1879 by the Reading Coal and 
Iron Company. In 1886 it was leased to the Heckschers, who 
eventually (in 1891) bought it and proceeded greatly to increase 
its output. Upon the occasion of the lighting of fires in their 
new furnace No. 2 in January, 1892, Heckscher & Sons enter¬ 
tained a large company of distinguished guests. At that time 
about two hundred men were carried upon the pay-roll. 

Mr. Richard Heckscher died at his residence, 260 South 
Eighteenth Street, Philadelphia, on July 10th, 1901. He was the 
father of seven sons and two daughters. 

T 



Office at Ivy Rock, Completed in 1918 


Since the consolidation of the two companies, Messrs. Led- 
yard Heckscher, Stevens Heckscher and Gustave Heckscher 
have represented the Heckscher interest in the directorate of the 

44 












45 


Ore Bridge and CariDumper at the Beast Furnaces. Note the Ore Faeeing Out of the Car 


























steel company. The blast furnace plant has been considerably 
expanded. In 1912 there was finished a third blast furnace, 
which is now known as No. 2, the old No. 2, having been dis¬ 
mantled in 1917. 

In 1913 a new boiler plant was added to utilize the waste 
gases from the furnace and furnish steam for an electric turbo¬ 
generator. 

In 1917, in order to meet the demand for iron and steel 
caused by the European war, the new No. 3 blast furnace and 
ore yard was started and completed the following year. The 
furnace was ready to go in blast when the armistice was signed, 
but due to the immediate cessation of demand for pig iron it was 
not lighted until January 8th, 1920. 

In the meantime, the steel works had not been standing still. 
\n 84" tandem plate mill was started in 1913 and completed in 
1914, making its first plate on March 31st of that year. Two 
heating furnaces were added to this mill in 1916 and another in 
1917, making a total of six. 

This mill is driven by alternating current motors supplied 
with electricity from the power plant at Swedeland. It has been 
copied and duplicated by several of the company’s competitors 
in the West. 

In the open hearth department during 1915 the capacity of 
the old furnaces was increased from fifty-five to sixty-eight tons 
and three new 80-ton furnaces were begun. These were com¬ 
pleted in 1917 and greatly assisted the company in furnishing 
steel for the war. (Note b.) Waste heat boilers were erected 
over the new furnaces. 

At the blooming mill a new soaking pit was completed in 
1917. 

The old office building having been completly outgrown, a 
new five-story modern building was completed in 1918. In this 
year also the new machine shops were completed. 

Rainey-Wood Coke Company 

, The need of an assured supply of coke having been felt for 
some time and the United States Government having urged all 
steel manufacturers to build by-product coke ovens to supply 
much-needed toluol and ammonium sulphate for ammunition 
purposes, the firm entered into negotiations with W. J. Rainey 
Estate, the result of which was an agreement (June 11th, 1918) 
,for the formation of the Rainey-Wood Coke Company, to be 
•located just north of the blast furnaces at Swedeland. Under 
this agreement, the Rainey Estate furnishes the coal and the 
steel company takes the coke, gas and tar. 

A contract was entered into with the Government and the 
construction of the plant was pushed with all speed possible 
under great difficulties. After the armistice was signed, the 

(b) No. 10 furnace was put in operation March 3, 1917; No. 11, April 6, 1917; and 
No. 12, June 17, 1917. 


46 




Richard G. Wood 
Chairman 

Born at Wooddale, Del., son of W. Dewees 
Wood. Entering the W. Dewees Company 
mill at McKeesport in 1868, he ably assisted 
his father in building up that business, and 
was president of the Company when it sold 
out to the American Sheet Steel Co. in 1900. 
He joined in forming the Alan Wood Iron 
& Steel Co. in 1901, and as vice-president 
and manager of the Steel Works was in a 
large degree responsible for its success. After 
Mr. Howard Wood’s death in 1911, he was 
president of the Company until January, 1920, 
when he resigned to become chairman. The 
Company owes him much for his progressive 
policy. 


47 











Jonathan R. Jones 
Vice-Chairman 

Since 1886, Mr. Jones has ably conducted the 
commercial end of the business. 

Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, January 1, 
1886. Secretary and Treasurer, 1887 to 
1911. Vice-President and Treasurer, 

1911 to January, 1920, when he 
resigned to become Vice- 
Chairman. 


48 






William W. Lukens 

President. 

With the Company since 1892. 
Son of Charles Lukens. 


49 









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Clement B. Wood. Vincent P. Wood 

Son of Howard Wood. Counsel of the Superintendent of J. Wood Department at 

Company since 1902 and Director since 1911. Conshohocken. 

Major of Artillery during the European War. With the Company since 1911. 

Son of Thos. D. Wood. 













need of haste was abated, but nevertheless, by August 26th, 1919, 
the plant was ready to produce coke. 

It has proved its capacity to coke 2,000 tons of coal a day 
and the yield of coke and by-products has come fully up to 
expectations. 

1 he sulphate of ammonia is sold principally to manufactur¬ 
es °f commercial fertilizers. I he gas and tar are burned at Ivy 
Rock and supply about half the fuel required there. 

Ledyard Heckscher, as the president; Wm. W. Lukens, as a 
director, and Howard Wood, Jr., as assistant treasurer, represent 
the Wood interest in the Rainey-Wood Coke Company, while Roy 
Rainey, as director, and Scott Stewart, as vice president and treas¬ 
urer, represent the Rainey interests. 

Directors and Officers of the Alan Wood Iron & Steel Company 

The Directors of the company are: Richard G. Wood, Jona¬ 
than R. Jones, William W. Lukens, Thomas D. Wood, Ledyard 
Heckscher, Gustav A. Heckscher, Stevens Heckscher, Alan D. 
Wood, Richard G. Wood, Jr., Clement B. Wood and Howard 
Wood, Jr. 

Due to the resignation, after long years of service, of Richard 
G. Wood as president and Jonathan R. Jones as vice president and 
treasurer, the company has recently undergone a reorganization. 
The officers elected January, 1920, are: Richard G. Wood, chair¬ 
man of the Board; Jonathan R. Jones, vice chairman of the Board; 
W illiam W. Lukens, president; Ledyard Heckscher, vice president; 
Howard Wood, Jr., vice president and treasurer; Alan D. Wood, 
assistant treasurer; John W. Logan, secretary, and A. Markley 
Harry, assistant treasurer and assistant secretary; Jos. H. Wood- 
head, assistant secretary. 

The managers and superintendents of the company’s plants 
are: Richard G. Wood, Jr., manager steel works department; John 
E. Mountain, superintendent steel works department; Gustav A. 
Heckscher, manager blast furnace; George Black, superintendent 
blast furnaces; William A. Cooper, manager Schuylkill Iron Works 
and J. Wood department, and Vincent P. Wood, superintendent J. 
Wood department. 

We have now traced the history of the Wood business from 
the time James Wood began work in 1792 as a country black¬ 
smith to the present (1920), when the company has an annual 
capacity of nearly a half million tons of pig iron and a full half 
million tons of open hearth steel, with mills for converting the 
products into plates, billets and sheets. (Note x.) 

The story is of a growth creditable, though by no means 
phenomenal, yet one that we trust will be of more than passing 
interest to members of the company. 

(x) The present annual capacity is estimated as follows: Four hundred and sixty- 
eight thousand tons of pig iron; five hundred thousand tons of ingots; three hundred 
thousand tons of billets; one hundred and twenty-five thousand tons of plates; one hun¬ 
dred thousand tons of sheets. Rainey-Wood Coke Co., five hundred thousand tons of 
coke, besides by-products. 


53 




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Lozver View —Workmen’s houses at Swedeland. 























59 


Ore Bridge and Beast Furnaces at Swedeeand. Limestone Piee in 























































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Supplementary 


Notes ^Jlbout 


Early Employees 

and 

Other Items of Interest 


Some Early Employees 

By WILLIAM A. COOPER 


James Morrison began to work at the Delaware Iron Works 
in 1831. He was a sheet iron roller, but like all men at the mill, 
did all kinds of work, including work on the farm when the farm 
work was more pressing than the mill work. He came to Con- 
shohocken as a roller soon after the Schuylkill Iron Works was 
built, and finally was a watchman, and died in October, 1885, 
after 54 years’ service. 

His son, William Morrison, who had learned his trade as a 
machinist with Pusey & Jones, of Wilmington, Delaware, came 
to work at Schuylkill Iron Works September 1st, 1859, as fore¬ 
man of the machine shop. He was one of the old-fashioned kind 
of machinists who learned his trade before the days of special 
machinery and was most resourceful and ingenious in devising 
ways and means to do unusual and difficult pieces of work, and 
never let any job get the best of him. 

He died June 1st, 1897, after nearly 38 years of service, and 
was succeeded by his son, James Morrison, as foreman of the 
machine shop. 

James Morrison came to work in the machine shop Decem¬ 
ber 17th, 1877, and has been with us ever since, being foreman 
of the machine shop after his father’s death. He is the third 
generation of his family in the employ of the company, which 
service comprises 86 years. 

Benjamin F. Lobb worked at the Delaware Iron Works; 
came to Conshohocken in 1857 when the Schuylkill Iron Works 
were built, and died December 4, 1889. 

He had charge of keeping all the roll trains in order and 
always “lined up” the mills and was very mysterious about lining 
up a three-high mill, and felt that he had information on this 
subject which no one else had, once telling a superintendent 
who was seeking information from the fountain-head, “that what 
I know about a three-high mill will die with me.” 

He was successful in his lining up and did much to estab¬ 
lish the reputation of the company for good looking sheets, but 
since his death we have managed still to line up a three-high mill. 
In addition to his care of the mills he had charge of the standing 
turn men, filling all vacancies and putting men in the places of 
men when ofif work for any cause. 

62 



After his death his duties were divided. He was very arbi¬ 
trary and “cranky/’ but under all conditions was loyal to the 
company. One son, Matthew Lobb, who is a roll turner, and sev¬ 
eral grandsons are still with the company. Benjamin F. Lobb 
was employed at the Delaware Mill, where he worked as early 
as 1855. 

Thomas Robinson was born in England, was working for 
Peter Cooper at Trenton in 1858, and hearing that a mill was 
being built at Conshohocken, came over and applied to Alan 
Wood, Senior, who hired him to work on the Bar Mill, Feb¬ 
ruary, 1858. 

In 1859 he spent three months at Delaware Iron Works in 
experimenting on Planished Iron. They never had a hand span¬ 
ner wheel on the mill, and his first job was helping the blacksmith 
make a spanner wheel. He tells us of the difficulties they had in 
turning the rolls, one man doing the turning with the roll in 
the housing, and another man watching the gate to the water 
wheel, and trying to make the wheel run slow, often letting the 
roll stop, and at other times “go too fast,” to the great annoy¬ 
ance and irritation of the man who was doing the turning. 

One day Mr. W. Dewees Wood was turning the roll and 
for a short time went up to his house and left the roll turning 
to Peter Rice, with explicit instructions as to what he was to 
do. When he returned Peter had left his tool too long in one 
place and cut a groove in the face of the roll, which necessitated 
cutting ofif the entire face of the roll, taking much time and wast¬ 
ing good rolling surface. When Mr. Wood returned and saw 
the condition of the roll Peter had his verbal punishment. 

After Thomas Robinson returned from Delaware he was a 
roller and afterwards stocker in the East Mill until Benjamin F. 
Lobb’s death, when he took charge of the standing turn men. 
In this position he was a great success, having much executive 
ability and a force of character which always kept him master 
of the situation. He was a terror to the shirker and the drinker, 
and would not put up with or tolerate any disobedience of the 
rules of the establishment. 

On the fiftieth anniversary of his service with the company 
they presented him with a gold watch, properly inscribed. In 
1915 he retired, is still living, and frequently visits the mill, and 
is interested in watching what is going on. 

George Churnsides’ name appears on the Delaware Iron 
Works’ books on October 4th, 1830, and he may have been em¬ 
ployed there before. He was very versatile, and in his time did 
many kinds of work, as the following extracts from an old diary 
kept at Delaware Iron Works will show: 


July 7th, 
July 10th, 
July 10th, 
July 17th, 
July 21st, 


1840—George Churnsides blacksmithing. 

1840—• same harvesting. 

1840— same putting up wall at forebay. 

1840— same putting up wall in tail race. 

1840—Repairing water wheel. 

63 


him and knew him well. He was a most forceful and able man¬ 
ager, dominated every situation, given to plain speaking, but 
bore no malice. 

In his intercourse with the mill men he was governed by 
a spirit of fairness and justice, never minced words and the men 
admired his courage, and after the “hurt was over” did not feel 
unkindly towards him. 

When I told Edward J. Caine, who had been our furnace 
builder for 25 years, of Mr. Wood’s death, he said: “Well, I 
have had very many plain talks with ‘the boss,’ but I liked to 
work for him, as you always knew just where you stood with him 
and whether your work was satisfactory.” 

He was a most excellent example of the fast disappearing 
“Iron Master.” 

James Colen, a “roller,” entered the army, and was wounded 
in the ankle at Gettysburg and taken to the hospital in Balti¬ 
more. Mr. Alan Wood, Jr., hearing of his being wounded in 
Baltimore, wrote to his cousins, Mrs. Charles Coates and Mrs. 
Tyson, to look him up, which they did, and James Colen often 
referred to the good care which they gave him. He always had 
trouble with his ankle and gave up rolling, and for many years 
stocked in the West Flue Mill, and was always one of the best 
and most loyal men in the mill. He retired about 1903, took a 
trip to Europe, and died February 19th, 1917. 

Joseph Colen was also a sheet and flue roller and also worked 
at many different jobs in the mill, the last one being scrap pack¬ 
ing. He retired May, 1913, on a pension, and died August 26th, 
1915. 

When a boy at Delaware Iron Works, and swimming in the 
mill pond, Mr. Howard Wood in playfulness pushed Joseph 
Colen in the water. Being unable to swim he was rescued with 
difficulty. In many ways this was fortunate for “Joe,” as in 
after life many shortcomings were overlooked on this account. 

Frederick Wood was a bar iron roller and an old employee. 
He was one of the men who broke the strike in 1876. 

After he gave up rolling he was watchman for a number 
of years, was finally pensioned, and died at the age of 83 years on 
September 23rd, 1917. 

John Campbell came to work at Schuylkill Iron Works 
soon after it was built, and for many years was roller on the 
West Flue Mill, and after giving up this job was Stocker on the 
East Flue and No. 4 Flue Mills. He died May 10th, 1908. He 
was secretary of the Schuylkill Relief Association and a very 
reliable man. 

It was one of his boasts that he had rolled plates heated by 
three generations of the Beaver family. The first of the family 
was Henry Beaver, who was a heater soon after the mill was 
built, and after he retired was janitor of the Presbyterian Church 
in Conshohocken. He was a tall, venerable-looking man with a 
long white beard, and looked the patriarch. 

66 


His son, Frank Beaver, was also a heater for a number 
of years and retired. 

His grandson, Samuel Beaver, came to work with us as a 
boy in 1891, and is a heater on the North Flue Mill. 

Thomas Murray came to work at Schuylkill Iron Works 
early in its history and was a catcher on the West Flue Mill 
until he gave it up, about 1905, and accepted a position as watch¬ 
man at the Ivy Rock Steel plant, and on December 4th, 1907, 
while on his way to work dropped dead at the Philadelphia & 
Reading Station in Conshohocken. He was thoroughly reliable 
and a good citizen. 

His son, Harry Murray, came to work here in 1879 and is 
still with us as a trimmer. His grandson, Harry Murray, Jr., 
came to work in April 1915, and is also still with us, being an¬ 
other case of three generations in one family. 

Matthew Hastings came to work at the mill soon after it 
was built and worked on the Bar Mill, and later became a watch¬ 
man. 

His son, George Hastings, came to work in 1885, and soon 
after his uncle, Benjamin F. Lobb, died, succeeded him in charge 
of the mill machinery and still has this position. 

Simon Kelly came to work at Schuylkill Iron Works in the 
spring of 1858 and stocked the Puddle Mill for 25 years, and died 
in 1888. His son, John P. Kelly, came to work in 1871. He was 
a bar roller and Flue Mill roller and is now a Flue Mill stocker. 

Samuel Townsend was born some 80 years ago in an old log 
house which stood under the old Coffee Bean tree, which tree 
was still standing until a few years ago in front of the house of 
David Wood, at Fifth Avenue and Fayette Street, Conshohocken. 

As a young man he hauled ore, and came to work in the 
mill soon after it was built, as a sheet roller and grate furnace 
man. After giving up work as a mill man he was our yard fore¬ 
man and later watchman, until he retired upon a pension, and is 
still living. 

In his early life he was a heavy drinker, but reformed en¬ 
tirely and became a most exemplary man and was always a hard 
worker who did his best. He was familiarly called “Old Sam.” 

In our Puddle Mill we have had some very good men. 

James Bickhardt came to work for us in July, 1868, and 
with the exception of about two years has been with us ever 
since, and was our Puddle boss until we discontinued puddling, 
in March, 1916, and he is still with us. 

Jerry Motz came from Blandon, Berks County, in 1875, and 
since 1883 was our night puddle boss until we discontinued pud¬ 
dling, and since then has weighed billets for us. 

George Pierson was also a night puddle boss and is now re¬ 
tired on a pension. 


67 


Amongst the old puddlers was Charles Deane, the Radcliff 
brothers from Wales, Captain Bloomhall, who was puddle boss; 
James Carrigan, Patty Mullen, John Bennet, Owen Hughes, 
Edward O’Neill, Robert Burke and Alfred Crocker. 

William Plank started to work for the company in January, 
1860, and worked continuously until September 11th, 1917—57j^ 
years, losing very little time, in fact, almost no time during 
that period. He worked at almost every job in the mill, roll¬ 
ing and spannering, and at the latter job was considered an 
authority, and was frequently consulted by Mr. Howard Wood, 
when the men were not making level plates. 

For 35 or 40 years before his death he was our principal roll 
turner and was turning rolls to within 10 days of his death, at 
which time he was the oldest living active employee of the 
company. 

He was a very positive and determined character, which 
characteristics continued to the last. The day before his death, 
while in bed he wanted to be shaved, and to humor him they cov¬ 
ered his face with lather and wiped it off; but this was not satis¬ 
factory, and they had to produce the razor and properly scrape 
his face. 

He was intensely loyal to the company and to the mem¬ 
bers of the Wood family who were at the mill. At the time 
of Mr. Howard Wood’s death, in 1911, I went to him and told 
him that the members of the family desired at the funeral the 
presence of the oldest employees of the company. His reply was 
characteristic: “I am glad the family want me, as I had made 
up my mind that whether the family wanted me or didn’t want 
me, I was going to Howard Wood’s funeral.” At the funeral 
he took hold of Howard Wood’s hand and showed much feeling, 
and although the announcement was made that the interment 
was private, he was at the cemetery at Bryn Mawr. 

He was in every way a man of the highest integrity and a 
good citizen. 


In the Office 

Richard Griffith was the clerk, cashier and timekeeper until 
he left, in August, 1871. 

Mr. Howard Wood frequently told of a drunken puddler 
coming into the office and being abusive to Griffith, and Griffith 
started to put him out, and after jabbing the puddler in the head 
several times with his pen, threw him out of the office, and as 
he resumed work at his desk quietly remarked, as he was putting 
a new pen in the holder, that he had always heard that the pen 
was mightier than the sword. 

Alfred Craft succeeded Richard Griffith, commencing Au¬ 
gust 14th, 1871, and continuing service until he died, March 9th, 
1911. He was absolutely accurate and careful and always had 
the interests of the company in mind. 

68 


The above are a few of the men who gave long service to 
the company and helped in building it up to its present propor¬ 
tions. There are a great many more who were early employees 
whose descendants are still in the company. 

A Testimonial from the Workers at J. Wood & Bros. Co. 

The year 1873 witnessed an industrial paralysis which pros¬ 
trated the manufactures of the nation, none more so than that 
of iron and steel production. Despite this condition J. Wood & 
Bros, continued “business as usual.” At the close of tiie year the 
employees of the firm to the number of 141 men presented the 
Hon. John Wood with an address, from which the following para¬ 
graphs are quoted : 

“You alone, amongst all the iron masters and manufacturers 
of this section of the old Keystone State, were the only man who 
never suspended any portion of the extensive works under your 
control even for a single day during the last disastrous financial 
crisis. You have conclusively shown to the world that the panic 
caused by the defalcation of Jay Cook & Co., with all the conse¬ 
quent disasters brought thereby on the banking institutions of 
the Nation, had for you no terrors!” 

“You have passed through this fiery ordeal with the most 
unsullied honor! nobly upholding the well-established reputation 
of your firm for financial integrity, as well as for its genuine lib¬ 
erality and open-handed generosity towards its employees. In 
so doing you have earned for yourself and for the firm of which 
you are the honored head, the lasting gratitude and heartfelt 
esteem of your men for that steady and remunerative employ¬ 
ment afiforded them, and which we see denied to a large number 
of our less fortunate fellow-citizens.” 

As a matter of record, the names of the workmen then em- 


ployed by the firm, 
here preserved. 

some of them for 

many preceding years, are 

Terrence Quinn 

Timothy Connolly 

Thos. McFetridge 

William Burton 

Bernard Loughery 

John McFeeters 

Stephen Mullen 

Edmond Ratcliffe 

William Williams 

Daniel Slattery 

William Simpson 

T. McFillemy 

John Townsend 

James Harkins 

John Ryan 

Chas. Herron 

William Ford 

Timothy Hushen 

James Kenworthy 

John Hummell 

John Righter 

Levi Whiteman 

A. B. Wood 

William Lowery 

George Walsh 

John Leahey 

I. A. Crossmore 

William Ray 

Albert Mattson 

Freeman Fleck 

W. B. Forrest 

George Brown 

Richard Dalby 

J. W. Reinhart 

Jas. Kelly 

Owen Quinn 

Robert W. Hill 

Eugene Atkinson 

Benjamin Shackleton 

Nathaniel Sikes 

John McAdams 

Patrick Harper 

Frank Atkinson 

Thos. Kenna 

Frank McHugh 

William Tolan 

Johnson Dougherty 

Thos. Hushen 

Chas. Binns 

John Smith 

Andrew Knox 

Edwd. Downey 

Leslie Stewart 

John Haines 

Frank Jones 

Jas. Crawford 

Michael Wall 

James McGinley 

Dennis Ford 

Edwcl. English 


69 


John Parker 
W. Wagner 
John Razor 
James Crossmore 
Jerry Crowley 
Hugh Donnelly 
Cornelius McGinley 
Hugh Harkins 
George Royer 
Henry Holland 
Thos. Platte 
John Dugan 
Samuel McCord 
Chris. Speaker 
Albert Wagner 
Chris. Fleck 
John Mellon 
Matthew Slinker 
William Davis 
J. Mesmer 
Alex. Hauson 
George Pass 
Jas. Elliott 
Thos. Pierce 
John Harrington 
John McGinley 
John Cleaver 


William Cleaver 
Thos. Rossiter 
D. Casey 
Robert McCurdy 
Washington Jones 
Dennis O’Brien 
John Hayes 
Joseph O’Neil 
John Peacock 
Holland Nixon 

B. F. Baldwin 
John Tuttle 
George McCord 
Albert Hawley 
Chas. Wood ' 
John Byrne 
John Herron 
Samuel Binns 
Philip Nagle 
Joseph Wheeler 
John McCarter 

C. Waltimyer 
Nathan L. Jones 
H. Knoult 
Emanuel Yocum 
John Hampton 
John Slinker 


Michael Wood 
William Low 
Thos. McKearns 
James Crowley 
Michael Burns 
Patrick Duffy 
Timothy Ford 
Richard Farrell 
Nicholas Brazzle 
Joab. Kenouse 
F. C. Smith 
Amos Custer 
H. A. Hammill 
Daniel Earle 
Thos. Wood 
Euclid Platt 
T. B. Woodward 
John Royer 
F. Huzzard 
Samuel Townsend 
John Elliott 
William Kay 
W. Huzzard 
W. Clarke 
Samuel Harmer 
Robert McKearns 
Robert Hanna 


LIST OF PATENTS 

February 10, 1525—JAMES WOOD.. Invention of a new and useful improve¬ 
ment in making shovels and spades. 
July 20, 1831—JAMES WOOD.Invention of a new and useful im¬ 

provement in the mode of manufactur¬ 
ing rollers of cast iron for laminating 
metals and for other purposes. 

October 12, 1842—JAMES WOOD 

and WILLIAM W. WOOD. .Invention of a new and useful im¬ 
provement in the process of manufac¬ 
turing sheet iron, which iron is de¬ 
nominated American glazed sheet iron. 

April 15, 1851—JOHN WOOD and 

WILLIAM W. WOOD.. Invention of new and useful improve¬ 
ments in the process of manufacturing 
glazed sheet iron. 

January 8, 1878—ALAN WOOD 

& CO... Process for lettering annealed plates 
assigned to Company by Howard 
Wood. Expired Tanuary 8, 1895. 

March 2, 1897—ALAN WOOD 

IRON AND STEEL CO... Process of box annealing and appara¬ 
tus therefor, assigned to Company by 
Howard Wood. Expired 3-2-1914. 

Sept. 26, 1905—ALAN WOOD, 3rd, 

HARRY LEWIS.. Roller stamping device for marking 

heat number and company’s name on 
billets coming hot from the rolls. 
Aug. 23, 1910—ALAN WOOD, 3rd.. Waterback for gas ports. 

In addition to the above patents, the Company enjoys the use of a de¬ 
vice invented by Alan D. Wood, known as “Magnetic Hold Down,” which 
is employed on shears to hold the plates fast to the table while the plate 
is being sheared. The right to use this device has been sold to several other 
steel companies. 


70 





71 


Obverse View of Medals Awarded to the Firm. 








72 


Reverse View of Medals Awarded to the Firm. 








In looking up the records of the product of Schuylkill Iron 
Works we could not find at this office the records before 1868, 
and believe these records were destroyed by the flood of 1869, 
as were many records and drawings which were in the office. 
The office, at that time, was a low frame building which stood 
between the west mill and our present watchman’s office. Our 
watchman’s office at that time was in a residence belonging to 
Evan Radclifife, a puddler. Our present office was built in 1872. 

In looking over the product it is interesting to note the 
good results of better equipment and of improved methods in 
the output of the mill. 

In 1868 there were five mills, No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 sheet 
mills, with 20 x 42-inch rolls, No. 2 sheet mill with 19 x 48-inch 
rolls, and the west flue mill, with 22 x 54-inch rolls. 

In 1870 the little three-high mill was run for a time. 

In 1873 the east flue mill was finished and run for a short 
time, but not regularly, until the latter part of 1880, when the 
mill was changed to 24 x 72 mill and the product was increased. 

In 1872 No. 2 sheet mill rolls were increased to 20-inch dia¬ 
meter and No. 4 sheet mill to 22-inch diameter. 

In 1891 the north flue mill was built, but the then three flue 
mills did not run regularly until 1899. 

In 1896 the west flue mill rolls were changed to 24 x 54-inch 
and the No. 2 sheet mill rolls to 22 x 48-inch. 

In 1902 the diameter of the necks of the rolls began to be 
increased on the sheet and flue mills. 

In 1905 the north flue mill started on three turns instead of 
two turns, and in 1913 No. 3 sheet mill started on three turns. 

In 1909 the east, west and No. 4 flue mills started on three 
turns. 

From 1903 to 1913 on some of the sheet mills were rolled No. 
14 and No. 16 gauge, principally chute steel, which increased the 
product. Before September 1st, 1913, we could only carry 60 lbs. 
of steam, and had an insufficient quantity at even that pressure, 
and frequent stops for steam were made, which cut down the 
product and wasted much steel in the furnaces. 

On September 1st, 1913, we started up No. 1 and No. 2 Bab¬ 
cock & Wilcox boilers, and by that time had changed the old 
steam pipes and steam drums so that we carried 100 lbs. pressure, 
but still were short of steam, and on September 27th, 1915, we 
started up No. 3 and No. 4 Backcock & Wilcox boilers, and 
since then have had little trouble with shortage of steam. 

On May 27th, 1916, we started to make 16 turns a week 
instead of 15 turns. 


73 


Product of Sheet and Flue Iron, Schuylkill Iron Works 



Sheet 

Flue 

Total 

1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

2619— 8/20 

3387—18/20 

5613— 9/20 
5056—11/20 
5643— 8/20 
6799— 3/20 
7338—10/20 
6621— 9/20 
8389—12/20 
6048—18/20 
5426—16/20 
6007— 6/20 

1878 

2846— 6/20 

3842— 1/20 

6686 — 7/20 

1879 

3484—18/20 

5337—17/20 

8822—15/20 

1880 

3394_17/20 

5835— 6/20 

9230— 3/20 

1881 

3655— 4/20 

8447—12/20 

12102—16/20 

1882 

4043—11/20 

9686— 9/20 

13730— 0/20 

1883 

3739 — 8/20 

8182—18/20 

11922— 6/20 

1884 

3253— 9/20 

7880— 5/20 

11133—14/20 

1885 

3448—10/20 

8372—15/20 

11821— 5/20 

1886 

3687— 4/20 

9493—11/20 

13180—15/20 

1887 

3927— 8/20 

9618—17/20 

13546— 5/20 

1888 

3407—12/20 

8638— 8/20 

12046— 0/20 

1889 

3574—16/20 

8609— 5/20 

12183—15/20 

1890 

3894— 4/20 

9668—12/20 

13762—16/20 

1891 

3592—12/20 

9691— 0/20 

13283—12/20 

1892 

3461—10/20 

9627—12/20 

13089— 2/20 

1893 

3264—14/20 

7820—19/20 

11085—13/20 

1894 

3159— 5/20 

8605—16/20 

11764—15/20 

1895 

3531— 2/20 

9482—16/20 

13013—18/20 

1896 

3119—14/20 

8685—12/20 

11805— 6/20 

1897 

2568—17/20 

7578— 0/20 

10146—17/20 

1898 

3196—14/20 

H314_17/20 

14511—11/20 

1899 

3826— 1/20 

15770— 4/20 

19596— 5/20 

1900 

3820— 4/20 

11368—19/20 

15189— 3/20 

1901 

4237— 5/20 

21588—17/20 

25826— 2/20 

1902 

4069—17/20 

21345—17/20 

25415—14/20 

1903 

4667— 5/20 

22597—13/20 

27264—18/20 

1904 

5633— 4/20 

23524—19/20 

29158— 3/20 

1905 

6102— 0/20 

25656— 6/20 

31758— 6/20 

1906 

C 1854—10/20 

28176— 4/20 

34031— 5/20 

1907 

S 4000—11/20 
6758—18/20 

26964—10/20 

33723— 8/20 

1908 

C 2191—10/20 

22798—12/20 

27916—17/20 

1909 

S 2926—15/20 

C 2902—12/20 

30787— 7/20 

37561— 7/20 

1910 

S 3871— 8/20 

C 2790—18/20 

34741—15/20 

41467— 7/20 

1911 

S 3934—14/20 

C 2943—16/20 

34118—12/20 

39878—19/20 

1912 

S 2816—11/20 

C 3281— 5/20 

36088—16/20 

42642— 1/20 

1913 

S 3271—17/20 

C 2393—14/20 

36935—19/20 

42930—12/20 

1914 

S 3600—19/20 
3085— 0/20 

39031—11/20 

42116—11/20 

1915 

4126—10/20 

49215—14/20 

53342— 4/20 

1916 

C 22—18/20 

52282— 9/20 

56837— 7/20 

1917 

S 4532— 0/20 
5460—10/20 

62351— 5/20 

67811—15/20 

1918 

4538— 

56383— 

60921— 

1919 

3752— 

44581— 

48333— 


74 



















Generations of Some Descendents of James Wood, Including 
Those Identified With the Successive Industries 

Herein Described: 

1st. James Wood, of the Society of Friends. Born of English 
parents in the City of Dublin in 1706. He was a farmer; came to 
America about 1725. Married—Dawes in 1732; died November 3rd, 
1760. His home was located between Kloat and Blue Bell in Whil- 
pain Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was buried 
at Plymouth Meeting. 

2nd. John Wood. Seventh child of James Wood. Born 
January 25th, 1747; married Katharine Davis in 1769 and died 
in 1836. 

3rd. James Wood. Eldest son of John and Katharine Wood. 
Born October 23rd, 1771. Married Tacy Thomas, of Gwynedd 
(Welsh descent) in 1796. She died July 11th, 1811. He subse¬ 
quently married Ann W. Warner. 

*Note 6. 

4th. Alan Wood. Third child of James and Tacy Wood. 
Born December 25th, 1800. Married Ann Hunter Dewees, Febru¬ 
ary 22nd, 1825. Died November 24th, 1881. 

4th. John Wood (known as ’Squire Wood) was a brother 
of Alan Wood, having been a child of James and Ann Warner 
Wood. Born April 17th, 1826. 

Children or Alan and Ann Hunter Wood 

5th. W. Dewees Wood. Born April 17th, 1826. Married 
March 16th, 1848, to Rosalind Gilpin. 

5th. Thomas Wood. Born December 12th, 1827. Married 
October 9th, 1850, to Maria Flagg. Died May 24th, 1880. 

5th. James H. Wood. Born March 20th, 1837. Died March 
27th, 1864. 

5th. Alan Wood, Jr. Born July 6th, 1834. Died Nov., 1902. 

5th. George W. Wood. Born March 20th, 1837. Died Feb¬ 
ruary 24th, 1859. 

5th. Howard Wood. Born February 8th, 1846. Died July 
1st, 1911. 


6th. Richard G. Wood. Born 1849, now chairman of the Board 
of Directors of the company, son of W. Dewees Wood. 

6th. Biddle Wood , son of Howard Wood. 

6th. Alan Wood, 3rd, son of Howard Wood. 

6th. Howard Wood, Jr., son of Howard Wood. 

6th. Clement B. Wood, son of Howard Wood (now a director). 
7th. Alan D. Wood, son of Richard G. Wood. 

7th. Richard G. Wood, Jr. son of Richard G. Wood. 

7th. Vincent P. Wood, son of Thomas D. Wood (superin¬ 
tendent of the J. Wood Department). 

75 







Blast Furnaces—Swedeland, Pa 




































































I 



Steel Plant—Ivy Rock, Fa 




































































































Rainey-Wood Coke Plant—Swedeland, Pa. 












































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